No Debate on Cupcakes Here

We're making cupcakes today because we have a birthday party tomorrow.

Perfect timing, as a clever article on the "cupcake debate" appeared in the NYTimes yesterday. Good ol' Texas defending the rights of small baked goods with an amendment! Now only if gays and lesbians could receive the same treatment there.

Avoiding a discussion of the so-called obesity epidemic for now, I myself am partial to the cupcake. Paralleling the trend mentioned in the article, I went for years--mainly 5th grade to graduate school--without ever considering the cupcake. But while living in NYC, I did visit the various cupcake bakeries--Cupcake Cafe makes beautiful floral creations in a tiny space near (or in?) Hell's Kitchen; Butterfly Bakery in Midtown has my favorite Lady Baltimore cupcakes. I haven't actually been to Magnolia, but I've drooled over the cookbook. And I have personally made several batches of cupcakes recently, often enlivening cake mix with my own ingredients.

So, in my quest to find the perfect birthday treat for my kids to take along when we go to parties, we made cupcakes today. Using a Gluten-Free Pantry old-fashioned cake and cookie mix, we whipped up a vanilla cake. I used real eggs and vegetable shortening so the texture of the cake came out pretty well.

And then we made frosting. Come to think of it, DD and DS have little concept of frosting. The only time they've been near something was the fondant on their 2nd birthday cake, which was not really a frosting. They loved watching my Kitchen Aid fluff the ingredients. Even more they liked adding colors--DD chose green and DS liked yellow. It was a trial to keep them from eating it all beforehand (and, so, shamefacedly I admit I gave them each a tiny bowl of frosting to sample)--they loved the super sweet stuff.

But they didn't want it on their cupcakes! When the time came (after shocking said cakes in the freezer to cool), I iced one green. But DD screeched and wouldn't have it near her so I handed it to DS, who gamely crumbled the cupcake but ate everything but the cake touching the frosting. DD did enjoy her plain cupcake, calling it a muffin. And then she asked for raisins to put in it!

The plain, unfrosted cupcakes are ready for tomorrow's party with a few in the freezer for the next event. And, well, DP and I polished off one each, but with strawberry jam and black currant jelly instead of green or yellow frosting, anglophiles that we are.

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Frosting Recipe

1 lb confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup shortening or margarine
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
rice milk as needed (used about 3 tablespoons)
food coloring (optional)

Mix sugar, shortening and vanilla together until blended. Add rice milk as needed to get the consistency right.